Intellectualisation of African languages: past, present and future
- Authors: Kaschula, Russell H , Nkomo, Dion
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/174728 , vital:42504 , ISBN , https://icl20capetown.com/
- Description: This paper discusses the intellectualisation of African languages from a historical perspective. It explores how different historical epochs ascribed certain values on African languages, thereby facilitating or impeding the development of the languages, which remain in urgent need of transformation into fully functional languages in modern society. Such an exploration is not undertaken for the purposes of generating another historical account or rivalling others already in place, but in order to contribute towards understanding the integral role of African languages in the broader decolonisation and transformation endeavours across the continent.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Lost and found: the value of a little known bilingual dictionary towards the intellectualization of Ndau
- Authors: Sithole, Emmanuel , Nkomo, Dion
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67537 , vital:29109 , http://dx.doi.org/10.5788/27-1-1411
- Description: Publisher version , This article critically evaluates the ChiNdau–English and English–ChiNdau Vocabulary: With Grammatical Notes, a bilingual dictionary published in 1915 by the American Board Mission (Rhodesian Branch), with a view of determining its suitability for use as a point of departure for modern Ndau lexicography. More than a century after its publication, it remains the only dictionary in the language. The language has been treated as a dialect of Shona for close to a century, until its emergence as one of the country's sixteen officially-recognized languages in the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe. This landmark development requires practical work that can transform Ndau into a fully-fledged and intellectualized language. Lexicography is one of the key intellectual enterprises that can contribute in this regard. It is therefore the contention of this article that the existing dictionary be considered as a vital point of reference for future lexicographic work in Ndau. An analysis of various aspects of the dictionary indicate that, notwithstanding some limitations, this dictionary indeed managed to set some standards that may be incorporated in current and future lexicographic works in this less documented language.
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- Date Issued: 2017
The dictionary in examinations at a South African university: a linguistic or a pedagogic intervention?
- Authors: Nkomo, Dion
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67559 , vital:29111 , http://dx.doi.org/10.5788/27-1-1406
- Description: Publisher version , This paper interrogates students' use of dictionaries for examination purposes at Rhodes University in South Africa. The practice, which is provided for by the university's language policy, is widely seen as a linguistic intervention particularly aimed at assisting English additional language students, the majority of whom speak African languages, with purely linguistic information. Such a view is misconceived as it ignores the fact that the practice predates the present institutional language policy which was adopted in 2006. Although it was difficult to establish the real motivation prior to the language policy, this study indicates that both English mother-tongue and English additional language students use the dictionary in examinations for assistance that may be considered to be broadly pedagogic rather than purely linguistic. This then invites academics to reconsider the manner in which they teach and assess, cognisant of the pedagogic value of the dictionary which transcends linguistic assistance.
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- Date Issued: 2017
IsiXhosa lexicography: past, present and future
- Authors: Nkomo, Dion , Wababa, Zola
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67526 , vital:29108 , http://dx.doi.org/10.5788/23-1-1219
- Description: Publisher version , This article presents a panoramic and critical overview of isiXhosa lexicography and its impact on the intellectualisation of this indigenous South African language. The history of isi¬Xhosa lexicography dates back more than two centuries. However, there still exists a need for dic¬tionaries that serve the language-speaking community as practical tools for addressing diverse communication and learning-oriented needs in the current language policy dispensation. The Isi¬Xhosa National Lexicography Unit (XNLU) is currently working on dictionary projects that attempt to address this situation while at the same time not losing sight of the mandate that the Pan South African National Language Board (PanSALB) placed on all the National Lexicography Units (NLUs). For this to happen, the article argues that the NLU needs to put lexicographic prac¬tice into its historical perspective, i.e. conceiving dictionary projects in the light of existing diction¬aries and lexicographic traditions in the language. Over and above that, there is a need to take into account the recent developments in lexicographic research, adopt co-operative lexicographic prac¬tice and develop a dictionary culture among the isiXhosa-speaking community.
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- Date Issued: 2013
The compilation of multilingual concept literacy glossaries at the University of Cape Town: a lexicographical function theoretical approach
- Authors: Nkomo, Dion , Madiba, Mbulungeni
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67548 , vital:29110 , http://dx.doi.org/10.5788/27-1-1411
- Description: Publisher version , This article proposes a lexicographical approach to the compilation of multilingual concept literacy glossaries which may play a very important role in supporting students at institutions of higher education. In order to support concept literacy, especially for students for whom English is not the native language, a number of universities in South Africa are compiling multilingual glossaries through which the use of languages other than English may be employed as auxiliary media. Terminologies in languages other than English are developed by translating English terms or coining new terms in these languages to exploit the native language competence of most students. The glossary project at the University of Cape Town (UCT) which was conceived under the auspices of the Multilingualism Education Project (MEP) is discussed. It is shown that the UCT glossaries are compiled using methods consistent with those employed in modern lexicography or proffered in lexicographical theory. The lexicographical function theory is specifically used to account for the glossaries and their production. It is suggested that modern lexicography can provide useful guidance for the production of glossaries, given that the earliest glossaries constitute the humble beginnings of lexicography.
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- Date Issued: 2011